Episodes
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July 10, 2024 - Quilling, the Boston Ballet, and Joyce Kulhawik
Quilling is the ancient art of coiling long strips of paper around a needle–or going back to its namesake– around a quill. In a twist of fate, Huong Wolf has ended up on a mission to keep this tradition alive. Today she and her husband run the Framingham-based business, Quilling Card, a fair trade company that sells handcrafted cards–and now handcrafted art. She joins The Culture Show to talk about the history of quilling and what it means to bring it into these times. From there, Boston Ballet, by way of a 360 dome, has created a portable portal to dance that’s making its way through Massachusetts. Ming Min Hui, the Executive Director of Boston Ballet, joins The Culture Show to talk about its upcoming appearances at Tanglewood and Woods Hole.Finally, it’s still Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, which means it’s still Jump the Shark Week on The Culture Show – if you think we’ve jumped the shark, Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik is bringing her life boat and her list of what she thinks has just gone too far. -
July 9, 2024 - Art prescriptions, Shark Week, and Pedro Alonzo
What is a prescription for anxiety or isolation that doesn't need FDA approval and won’t get churned through big pharma to drive up prices? Art and culture.Known as “social prescriptions,” there is a growing movement of physicians writing out prescriptions for dance classes, nature walks or a trip to the museum as a way to help treat mental and behavioral health concerns.Now Massachusetts is the first in the nation to have a statewide program. Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Dr. Priscilla Wang, Associate Medical Director of Primary Care Health Equity at Mass General Brigham join The Culture Show to talk about this new initiative.From there, It’s still “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel, which means it’s still “Jump the Shark Week” on The Culture Show, where we look at what in the zeitgeist has gone the way of the Fonz on water skis. Today Culture Show co-host James Bennett II joins us for his list of things that have gone too far.Finally independent curator and Culture Show Curator Pedro Alozno joins us to talk about the latest exhibition he’s curated, “The Objects We Choose,” at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York. -
July 8, 2024 - Ben Shattuck, jumping the shark, and Shakespeare on the Common
Ben Shattuck’s latest book, “The History of Sound: Stories” is a collection of interconnected stories that examine the lives and landscapes of New England where Shattuck spans centuries in these haunting and often humorous stories. He joins “The Culture Show” ahead of his event at Harvard Book Store.And, it might be “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel, but on The Culture Show, it’s “Jumping the Shark Week” where we ask: what in the zeitgeist has gone the way of the Fonz when he took that fateful jump? Culture Show co-host Edgar B. Herwick III joins us for his take.Finally, “The Winter’s Tale.” Shakespeare’s parable of human failings and forgiveness comes to life next week at the Parkman Bandstand by way of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s annual –and FREE–Shakespeare on The Common. Bryn Boice, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Associate Artistic Director, and actor Nael Nacer join The Culture Show for a preview. -
July 5, 2024 - Fat Ham and The Shark Is Broken
Today on The Culture Show, The play “Fat Ham.” It’s a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where the court of Denmark is transported to a backyard barbecue in the South, but the most radical change is the sublimation of Shakespeare’s epic tragedy into an uproarious comedy. Playwright James Ijames won a Pulitzer for Fat Ham in 2022. We caught up with him when Fat Ham was onstage in Boston. From there, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Jaws and the turbulence on the set, from the actors feuding with one another to a mechanical shark that was more blundering than plundering. The actor Robert Shaw, who played Quint , a world-weary shark hunter, used to bring his son Ian to the set of Jaws. In an epic and oedipal twist, Ian Shaw played his dad in the “Shark is Broken,” a play that he also co-wrote. Ian Shaw joins The Culture Show to talk about the making of Jaws and the play that it inspired. -
July 4, 2024 - The Boston Tea Party, AJ Jacobs, and LexSeeHer
Coming up on The Culture Show….We are steeped in American history, starting with the Boston Tea Party. Fed up with the tyranny of taxation without representation, American colonists took matters into their own hands–literally: tossing three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor. The theatrics alone made it one of THE most celebrated rebellions. But to understand the true ideals and motivations behind it, we turn to the Massachusetts Historical Society.And in his latest book, writer AJ Jacobs documents living as closely to the original meaning of the Constitution as possible, which includes carrying a musket, and personally delivering a list of grievances to Congress. Although his constitutional immersion is humorous, Jacobs is not in this just for the laughs. He finds a nation losing its hold on the values implicit in the constitution: responsibility, community and civic engagement. Finally, sisters are doing it for themselves. As America prepares to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, Lexington, Massachusetts is telling a story about the women who were a part of this history but were forgotten or erased and never celebrated. Hence, the monument “Something is Being Done.” Jared Bowen talks to Meredith Bergmann, the acclaimed Massachusetts sculptor who created this monument and Jessie Steigerwald, president of LexSeeHer, Inc. -
July 3, 2024 - Jazz at the Omni, the Boomin' Beaver, and the Cricket World Cup
Will Dailey is an independent recording artist, performer and artist advocate. He’s won numerous Boston Music awards, including best album and best artist. He’s shared the stage and studio with some of the greats, such as Eddie Vedder, Willie Nelson and Brandi Carlile. Now he has a new gig: elevating other artists and musicians As artist-in-residence at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, he curates a soundscape for the hotel, orchestrating a lineup of local artists who perform throughout the space. This includes a collaboration with the Boston Jazz Foundation as a way to highlight local jazz musicians.WIll Dailey, and Boston Jazz Foundation’s Vice Chair Moriah Phillips join The Culture Show to talk about their collaboration and concert series.Then, it’s the tiny tugboat that’s making waves. Known as the Boomin’ Beaver, at only 19 feet, it plays a vital part in keeping the Navy’s most powerful vessels safe. Culture show co-host Edgar B. Herwick III explains the starring role it will play this 4th of July.Finally, fresh off the cricket world cup, we keep cricket fever alive. Mahesh Daas, President of Boston Architectural College is also a player and enthusiast. He joins us to talk about its history, its resurgence and the sport’s connection to Boston -
July 2, 2024 - Poetry in America, Denée Benton, and Jaws at the Brattle
Poetry often has a stigma that’s hard to shake. That it’s inscrutable, elite and out of reach. Even with the rhyming. And brevity. But give poetry a chance, explore its roots, its history of experimentation and the beauty of its language and it comes alive.This is what Elisa New has done with “Poetry in America,” the PBS series. She joins The Culture Show to talk about its latest season. Elisa New is the director and host of “Poetry in America” and Distinguished Professor of Practice at Arizona State University.From there actress Denee Benton. She made her Broadway debut in “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” and later went on to take over the female lead of Eliza Schuyler in the Broadway run of “Hamilton.” Now she is in “The GIlded Age,” playing Peggy Scott, an aspiring writer and journalist from a prominent Black family. Aheady, she joins The Culture Show to talk about making Peggy SCott a more well-rounded, authentic character. Finally Ned Hinkle, Creative Director of Brattle Theatre, talks about their special screening of Jaws and why it’s the perfect film for the Fourth of July, -
July 1, 2024 - Frederick Douglass, rare books at the BPL, and Boston's Harborfest
“What to the American slave is your Fourth of July?” That is the question Frederick Douglass posed to an audience of abolitionists at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was July 5, 1852 in Rochester, New York.In that speech, Douglass confronted the hypocrisy of a day celebrating freedom in a country that still endorsed the forced labor and bondage of more than 3 million people. It’s a speech with deep resonance today. This is why Mass Humanities sponsors public readings of this speech, which happen across the region. Brian Boyles, executive director of Mass Humanities, and Paula Elliott, a vocalist and one of the organizers of the first Frederick Douglass reading on the Boston Common in 2009 join The Culture Show.Then it’s another take on Independence Day. On July 5th the Boston Public Library’s Special Collections is hosting an open house, to showcase the multiple original printings of the Declaration of Independence held within the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department. Jay Moschella, Manager & Curator of Rare Books, joins The Culture Show for an overview.Finally, it’s Boston Harborfest 2024, a four-day spectacular with events that mark Boston's heritage. Michael Nichols, President of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District and George Comeau who is their senior manager of destination events and the Navy Band Northeast’s Crosswinds Woodwind Quintet pack into The Culture Show studio for an overview. -
June 28, 2024 - Week in Review: Boston theatre, international art, and Will Smith
Mfoniso Udofia. Frustrated as an actor when she didn’t see roles reflecting her or her reality, she picked up the pen, and never let go.In total she wrote a nine-play cycle chronicling three generations of a Nigerian-American family. Now a coalition of local theaters and arts organizations are putting on a two-year festival celebrating and producing these works.Then, it’s a casting conundrum. In 2008 Sean Penn played the openly gay politician Harvey Milk, and won an oscar. Today he says that a “timid and artless” climate makes it impossible for him to play a gay role today.Finally, it’s follow-up Friday, where we update you on the stories we’ve been tracking, which includes the sisterhood of the traveling museum exhibit that’s skirting a gender discrimination suit. -
June 27, 2024 - Danza Organica, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, and Shaker design
Danza Orgánica, a Boston-based dance company, has been collaborating with members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag in a performance that explores the indigenous people of two islands, Martha’s Vineyard and Puerto Rico, and what the two cultures have in common. Titled, “We Still Dance,” it is a multimedia theatrical performance, making its Boston Premiere this Saturday in a free performance at MassART. Mar Parilla, choreographer and founder of Danza Orgánica, joins The Culture Show for a preview.Then, has the time come to prop up the local theater scene? A proposed theater tax credit could turn Massachusetts into a breeding ground for Broadway if the Massachusetts Legislature passes Governor’s Healey’s economic development bill. Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll has experienced this first-hand. As the former Mayor of Salem, she knows the power of arts and culture tourism. She joins The Culture Show to talk about why this tax credit is included in the economic development bill.Finally, we head to Hancock Shaker Village. Their Executive Director and CEO, Caroline Holland joins The Culture Show to talk about marking the 250th anniversary of Shaker design, which includes the US Postal Service issuing a Shaker Design forever stamp collection.
